Due to circumstances beyond our group's control we had to use Colin's Grade 4 class for the second lesson study. As Colin had completed a number of Google Map and Earth activities with his students already we had to deviate a bit from the first lesson.
Working with this it was decided to use Google Earth to create a virtual tour of certain parts of the world. We saw this as a progressive step from the first lesson with Google Maps.
Lesson Title:
Using Google Earth to create a Tour of capital cities of World Cup countries
Brief Rundown Of Lesson:
Looking at a list of countries on the interactive whiteboard students would work in teams of two and create a tour of the capital cities of the countries that are participating in the World Cup. Students would use Google to find capitals they did not know.
Reasons Why We Chose This Topic: In the first lesson Kavitha introduced students for the first time to Google Maps and creating a route. With Colin's class this was already introduced and expanded upon earlier in the year. It was decided that the next logical step would be to apply their knowledge of Google Earth, internet searching and route making to create a Google Earth KMZ file that would record their route they create in one file that would be opened in Google Earth. As the World Cup was kicking off it was decided to keep it relevant to the students they would have to find out the capital cities of the countries that are taking part in the World Cup in a 40 minute class.
Potential Difficulties
Information overload for the students. Students not knowing their gmail address or password. Not enough time to finish in class. Students not knowing their address! Pre-requisite Knowledge Before this lesson, students had experience and knowledge on:
1. Creating routes on Google Maps/Earth
2. Using Google to search efficiently.
3. Saving files into the appropriate folders in the network drive Objectives:
After the lesson, students should be able to:
1. Use Google Earth to search for locations and create a KMZ file.
2. Cooperate effectively in a team to meet the classes objectives. Applied Theories:
As this was a class of students who had experience of Google Earth before we applied Minimalist Instruction to the utmost. The time spent at the start of class was kept to 8-9 minutes and from then on the students were left to explore and experience different methods to achieve the same end results. This encouraged a more action-oriented approach from the students and kept intrusive help down to a minimum. Variation was implemented in the class from the start. The students could approach the activity in whichever order and in a method that suited their own teamwork (i.e. some teams made one member the "Googler" and the other the "Mapper"). The pattern that was observed in this form of variation was strategic knowledge. The students were evaluating their progress as they went along; some assumed Sydney was the capital of Australia before they Googled it to question their prior knowledge. Some students also played their tour in the middle of the activity to make sure they were doing it right.
Minimalism and Variation Theories worked hand in hand for an authentic learning activity; the students learned by differing the approaches to the activity. Some students started with the capital cities they knew which got them off to a fast start; some started with the difficult countries to challenge themselves and gain knowledge.
Back Chaining was not used persay as instruction was kept to a minimum; the students were shown the basics of creating a tour and shown a quick look at a tour when the instruction was completed. So as the end result was not shown before the instruction we cannot say we used Back Chaining to the fullest.
Lesson Study Info
Due to circumstances beyond our group's control we had to use Colin's Grade 4 class for the second lesson study. As Colin had completed a number of Google Map and Earth activities with his students already we had to deviate a bit from the first lesson.
Working with this it was decided to use Google Earth to create a virtual tour of certain parts of the world. We saw this as a progressive step from the first lesson with Google Maps.
Lesson Title:
Using Google Earth to create a Tour of capital cities of World Cup countries
Brief Rundown Of Lesson:
Looking at a list of countries on the interactive whiteboard students would work in teams of two and create a tour of the capital cities of the countries that are participating in the World Cup. Students would use Google to find capitals they did not know.
Reasons Why We Chose This Topic:
In the first lesson Kavitha introduced students for the first time to Google Maps and creating a route. With Colin's class this was already introduced and expanded upon earlier in the year. It was decided that the next logical step would be to apply their knowledge of Google Earth, internet searching and route making to create a Google Earth KMZ file that would record their route they create in one file that would be opened in Google Earth. As the World Cup was kicking off it was decided to keep it relevant to the students they would have to find out the capital cities of the countries that are taking part in the World Cup in a 40 minute class.
Potential Difficulties
Information overload for the students. Students not knowing their gmail address or password. Not enough time to finish in class. Students not knowing their address!
Pre-requisite Knowledge
Before this lesson, students had experience and knowledge on:
1. Creating routes on Google Maps/Earth
2. Using Google to search efficiently.
3. Saving files into the appropriate folders in the network drive
Objectives:
After the lesson, students should be able to:
1. Use Google Earth to search for locations and create a KMZ file.
2. Cooperate effectively in a team to meet the classes objectives.
Applied Theories:
As this was a class of students who had experience of Google Earth before we applied Minimalist Instruction to the utmost. The time spent at the start of class was kept to 8-9 minutes and from then on the students were left to explore and experience different methods to achieve the same end results. This encouraged a more action-oriented approach from the students and kept intrusive help down to a minimum.
Variation was implemented in the class from the start. The students could approach the activity in whichever order and in a method that suited their own teamwork (i.e. some teams made one member the "Googler" and the other the "Mapper"). The pattern that was observed in this form of variation was strategic knowledge. The students were evaluating their progress as they went along; some assumed Sydney was the capital of Australia before they Googled it to question their prior knowledge. Some students also played their tour in the middle of the activity to make sure they were doing it right.
Minimalism and Variation Theories worked hand in hand for an authentic learning activity; the students learned by differing the approaches to the activity. Some students started with the capital cities they knew which got them off to a fast start; some started with the difficult countries to challenge themselves and gain knowledge.
Back Chaining was not used persay as instruction was kept to a minimum; the students were shown the basics of creating a tour and shown a quick look at a tour when the instruction was completed. So as the end result was not shown before the instruction we cannot say we used Back Chaining to the fullest.